Registration tool for stencil decorating machine



Sept. 11, 1956 R. G. MARTIN ETAL 2,762,299

REGISTRATION TOOL FOR STENCIL DECORATING MACHINE Filed May 21. 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l p 11, 9 R. G. MARTIN m-AL 2,762,299

REGISTRATION TOOL FOR STENCIL DECORATING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 21, 1953 ATTOENE Y5 Unite REGISTRATIQN T901. FOR STENCIL DECORATING MACHINE Application May 21, 1953, S'erial'No. 356,388

3-Claims. (Cl. 101-115) This invention relates to stencil. decorating machines for. applying multiple. color compositions to the surfaces of bottles and other articles of manufacture by means of screens which have open design areas and. closed. nondesign areas. In multiple color. decorating, successive screens are utilized in the applicationof successive-colors. Each. screen, in its-turn, is engaged with the surface of the article to be decorated and a color composition or decorating. medium forced through the. open design areas by means of a squeegee, thus depositing upon thesurface of the article the pattern or indicia of theseareas. A two color operation, for example, may consistcf applying abackground color by means of a first screen and a foreground color by means of a second screen.

"Die problem which is presented in multiple color deco: rating is to properly orient the article being decorated each-time it is presented to a screenin order toinsure that. successively applied patterns or indicia are aligned or; registered with one another. The article to be decorated,.therefore, must have on it some means to serve as an index or reference in order to establish the same screem to-article relationship for each color to be applied.

In copending patent application, Serial No. 242,558, filed-August 18, 1951, Patent No. 2,721,516, a fully automatic decorating. machine is. disclosed which is adapted to apply a number of colors or patterns successively to cylindrical articles, such as bottles. For registration purposes,.each article is provided. with a suitable projection on lug which is embossed upon it near its base. The lug cooperates with registration mechanism at successive decorating. stations in the machine to properly orient the bottle with respect to the design areas of the screens at the stations. The registration mechanism at each station in: cludes. a chucking device which is arranged to receive and revolve each article about its longitudinal axis. to bring its lug into contact with a registration tool. The respective. toolsat each of the successive decorating. stations arein. the same position relative to the screens. at the stations; therefore, the same screen-to-article, relationship is established at each decorating station andthe successive colors are applied in proper registry.

The tool at each station is rigidly mounted. however, and arranged to move intoa given luginterceptingposh tion. relative to. the. axis about which an article, isrotated for. engagement therewith each time that. an article is presented to the chucking device. A.registration.tool of this type operates successfully withtrue-to-size bottles, but it does not. function. with absolute. reliability to intercept andstop. or register, substantially out-of-round bottles;.nor for registering bottles or other articles. having indented index means such as. a recess insteadofa lug- The. bottles and other articles which are. decorated in the machine of the application are. machine made, but despitethis, atruly circular, precisely dimensionedarticle is the. exceptionrather. than the. rule.. For example, many bottles which are supposed to be cylindrical have flattened areas or flats formed inthem which, althoughnotisuffir tates Patent ice 2i ciently noticeableOrr-objectionable to=makethe bottles commercially unacceptable, deviatev substantially from true round. Where such. an-areacoincideswith a-projeet: ing references lug one abottle, thelug-is: recessed in effe oftentimes. tothe extent. that-a rigidly mounted registration tool cannot-.makeproper;contact with it; With the reference lug, upon: which; regis-ration depends, inetfectually positioned, successive patterns are applied, haphazardly. The. same thing may occur. when a; lug is imperfectly formed or. broken. or chipped-inhandling prior to deco rating- Itris an objective of this .inventionto-provide, aregisttay tion. tool for multiple. color decorating which; is adapted to register out-of-round; and otherwise imperfectly. forme articles. with the same degreev of precision that, perfectlyformed articles may beregistered. The present registration tool, unlike a rigidly mounted tool, is not fixed. inposition relative. to the axis of rotationof. the article. The. tool is free :to float relative-to the surface of the article being decorated, and actually, rides upon it, where his. in position to intercept the index means whether it beat. a, high place or at. a low place. onthe surface of the article.

Afurther. objective isto provide a nonTrigidly mounted registratiomtool. of. the type. setforth which may be used to. register articles. having either. projecting index. means or recessed index means; that. is, either a lugor aniche; A rigidly. mounted.tool=.by-contrast can.be used. with projectingor embossed indexmeansonly.

Another objective. of the inventionisto. provide a regis: trationtooli of the type set. forth which, although free. to float in. and out in order toE accommodate surface irregularitiestof an article, being registered, is. nevertheless so constructed. andarranged that interception of the index means, whether. it be, recessed or. embossed,v causes; the tool to. move. inwardly onlyt. into-more. intimate contact with the indexmeans; thereby stoppingand aligning. the article positively. and precisely- Other objectives. and advantages of the presentinvention will be readily apparent to: those skilledin the art from the following. detailed. description, of. the. drawings in which: I

Figure 1 is a top plan view showing registration. mecha: nism including a registration,toolincorporatingthewprin ciples of the present invention,.and,a chucking device havinga bottle held therein.

Figure 2 is a crosssectional view. taken. 011. the. lin 2-2 in Figure 1;.

Figure 3'. is a cross sectional. view taken on the line 3'3.of'Fi'gure.2.

Figure, 4' is at cross, sectional. View. taken. on. the line 4 4of Figure 1.

Figure 5? is a diagrammatic view. showing the registrar tioir tool and bottle of'Eigu ei 4 in. Which, the bottle is moving toward registration, postiion.

Figure 6 is a view similarto Figure, 5' illustrating the bottle atfinalregistration position. i

Figure 7' is a view similar to Figure 6, showing, the tool adjusted to register abottle. having, a, projecting, lug thereon: V

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view,' shown partly in. sec,- tion, ofthe side of the registration tool whichcontactstlie articles; 7'

Briefiy, the registration tool of the present invention consists essentially' ofia tool holder which is pivotally mounted; a tool or 'eten constituting aprojection. of. the tool. holder. for. engagement with. a. r gistration.- lug or recess on the; article to be. decorated, a spring} or other suitable, means, for biasing; the tool and. holder toward the. article to, be, decorated and: afinger or." lead: portion also. projecting from: the tool holder,- toward: the: article or Ware but positioned in advance of the tool with respect to the predetermined direction of rotation of the ware in the machine with which the tool holder is to be used. During ware rotation, the tool rides the ware periphery under the bias of the spring and engages the lug or recess by abutment therewith so as to prevent further ware rotation. However, this engagement of the tool with the lug or recess on the ware is accompanied by engagement of the lead tip of the holder with the ware, thereby serving as a lock which prevents unintentional disengagement of the tool with the ware. In this manner, a two-point engagement is established, the lead tip of the tool hearing upon the ware at the same time the tool itself resides in abutment with the lug or recess thereof. Theapparatus functions with complete reliability as to ware registration, as to both perfect and imperfect bottles, whereas a rigidly mounted tool frequently is unable to make engagement with a lug or recess of a piece of ware that is out of round, and a tool which is merely biased toward the ware without benefit of a lead tip may make engagement but then be projected into disengagement by virtue of an imperfectly formed lug or recess or by virtue of ware momentum.

The registration apparatus of the present invention may be used with various types of automatic or semi-automatic decorating machines, and, for purposes of illustration, the invention is described in the detailed specification which follows particularly with respect to the decorating machine and bottle registering apparatus described in the previously identified co-pending patent application.

In Figure 1, the bottle is shown in position to be decorated. A screen, not shown, is disposed above the bottle. A color composition is forced through the design areas of the screen and onto the surface of the bottle by means of a squeegee. This takes place while the bottle is being rotated about its longitudinal axis and while the screen is moved in a relatively linear direction and in rolling contact with the bottle. In general, the bottle is rotated from two distinct drive sources, one for registration and one for screening. During registration, the bottle is rotated by means of a power take-off from the main drive shaft of the machine, or from any other available source. During decoration however, the bottle is in driving connection with the screen so that the rate of turn of the bottle is directly related to the rate of lineal move ment of the screen. Thus, once a driving connection is established between the screen and bottle which provides the required rolling contact relation between the two, such contact is maintained regardless of the speed or direction of the decorating movement of the screen.

In the instance shown, the bottle 10 is positioned for registration and decoration between a rotatable chuck 11, which seats the base of the bottle, and a freely turning mouthpiece holder 12. The chuck 11, bottle 10 and holder 12 are arranged to rotate about a common longitudinal axis. The drive to chuck 11 for registration purposes is taken from a shaft 13, which may be driven through appropriate gearing from the main drive shaft of the machine by a chain 14 which is engaged around a sprocket 15, keyed to shaft 13, and a sprocket 16, which is part of the registration mechanism assembly. The drive to chuck 11 for decorating purposes is through a cable 17 which is wrapped around and secured to a drum 18 at the back of the registration mechanism. A clutch device 19 is disposed between sprocket 16 and drum 18. Shift means 20 is provided to change the drive to chuck 11 from one source to another. The clutch shifting means 20 is adjusted so that positive driving engagement between the clutch plates is maintained while the drum is eifective to drive the chuck; however, a slippable driving engagement is maintained during registration. The latter permits the bottle to be stopped at any time during the registration period that its index is properly positioned. The details of construction of a clutch which operates similar to the one shown are disclosed in the copending 4 application. The application also discloses means for interconnecting the cable 17 with a screen, and a means to drive the screen.

The registration mechanism may be mounted upon the decorating machine at the screen by means of a bracket such as the one indicated generally at 21. This bracket may also serve to mount a journal 22 for a registration tool assembly which is indicated generally at 23.

The registration tool assembly with which the present invention is particularly concerned is indicated generally at 24. The primary purpose of the tool is to insure that the article being decorated is properly oriented with respect to the pattern on the screen with which the tool is associated. The tool, in the preferred embodiment, is arranged to cooperate With an index or reference recess 25 which is formed in the article to be decorated, usually near its base. in a multiple color operation the registration mechanism illustrated in Figure l is duplicated at each decorating station in a machine adapted for this type of Work. If desired, pre-registration means, such as that shown in the copending application, may be employed in conjunction with the registration mechanism disclosed here, although pre-registration means is not requisite, and, as previously stated, the apparatus of the present invention may be used in conjunction with any suitable means for supporting and rotating a bottle and for presenting it to a screen for decoration purposes. Generally, the sequence of operations in a bottle decorating procedure is as follows: A bottle is presented to the chuck 11 and gripped therein by the mouthpiece which is moved toward the chuck into the position shown. Unless pie-registration means are employed, the reference or index recess 25 on the article, is disposed at some random position peripherally relative to the registration tool 24 when the bottle is received at the decorating station. The bottle, therefore, must be rotated by the chuck to bring the recess 25 into a position in which it can be contacted by the registration tool. The drive for this purpose may be through a suitably operated drive shaft 13.

Engagement of the tool in the recess positions the bottle relative to the screen. Once the bottle is registered, a clutch 19 is operated to shift the drive connection for chuck 11 from shaft 13 to drum 18. The squeegee is then lowered to press the screen against the surface of the bottle, and the screen moved lineally to deposit color on the bottle. At the end of screen movement, the recess in the bottle is at some new position depending upon the amount that the bottle is rotated while being decorated. Upon retraction of mouthpiece holder 12, the throttle is free to be transported to the second decorating station. In a fully automatic machine the bottle is moved mechanically to the next station, at which the bottle is again clamped into a chuck and the above sequence of operations is repeated, the bottle first being registered and then decorated. It will be seen that regardless of the number of colors to be applied to a bottle, as long as the same relationship between recess and screen is established by registration mechanism prior to decorating, successive patterns or indicia will be applied to the bottle in proper alignment and registry.

In order to facilitate the removal and insertion of articles from and into chuck 11, the registration tool support assembly of the present invention is preferably pivoted to swing into and out of registration position. For this purpose, the registration tool shown in the drawings is carried upon a right angular arm 26 which is pivotally mounted in journal 22 on a pin 27. The pin is disposed with its longitudinal axis canted so as to cause the tool to swing down and to the rear relative to chuck 11. In an automatically operating machine the arm may be connected to the drive means by a link, such as the one indicated at 28, for movement between the retracted position shown in dot-dash lines at 29 and the registration position shown in full lines in Figure 1.

Tool 24 in the preferred construction is also mounted so that its position may be. adjusted readily. to. accommodate bottles. or articles of difierent sizes. Eon this. purpose, the tool may be mouniedtupon. a..slotted' block 30 which is arranged tobe adjusted. generally axially, of the bottle. Block 30 is, securedto. acarria-ge; 31 by means of a bolt 32, which. traverses the slots. and. threads. into. the upper face of the, carriage. Carriage. 3L includes a dovetail slide way 33 which. is. arranged. to permit car: riage. 31 to be adjusted horizontally toward. and; from chuck 11 substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the bottle. Vertical adjustment is. providedhy means of a plate 3.4.which.is.secured to theouter end of arm 26 by a bolttraversing a slot. in plate. 34 andthreading into the arm. The. upper portion of plate. 34. has a dovetail block. 35. affixed toit WhlSIhalS. seated in. the way 33 of carriage 31.. An adjustment screw 3.7,..rotatably. mounted in a. plate 38.which-is bolted to oneend ofcarriage 31, threads into the dovetail. block.3.5.and .is pro.- vided to adjust the: position. of. the carriage.

The registration tool itself: is nonerigidly mounted. Referring to Figure 8-, the. tool. is. pivoted: upon a stub shaft 40 which isformedat thev front of blocle30.. The axis of the. pivot, it will be noted, is substantially-parallel with the longitudinal axis of. the bottle. when. the tool is in registration position. The. outen end. of' stub shaft 40 isof reduced, size and-threaded. as. showmat: 41 to receive a nut 42 which-holdsthe. toolin-placev on.- stub. shaft 4.0. The tool isbiased to-turrninatclockwisedirection about its pivotal axis. as. seen in Figure. 4. This movement swings the.- upper portion. of. the. toolt-oward the chucked bottle. To bias the tool, alight-coilspring. 43 is provided which is connected at one end-tore.- depending leg 44 which. may be formed asanintegral part of the tool. The. oppositeendof coil spring, 43,, is se cured to. a'flange 45, which is; turned-forwardly from; a; slotted plate 46..- Plate 461s. afiixedto-therfrontfacerof carriage 31 by two large headed bolts. 47w-47 which;traverse the s ot in the plateand thread: intoathe. carriage... The slot in the plate is substantially horizontally disposed so that the plateas a unitmay' be adjustedtoward and from the. tool.

The end" of, plate 46; adjacent the; toolfmountsz a stop: finger 481 whichmay be. formed asapartof-theplateand-z turned outwardly from it at a right. angle parallel to; flange 45. The stoprfi'nger, .it:will.-bemotechfromEigureis positioned to engage leg 44 and prevent the tool from turning pastit in the clockwise position under the bias spring 43. The position of the: finger-48.: relative to the tool is adjusted by changing the position of the plate. This also alters the tension of'the spring in theconstruction shown, but such change is only incidentaLand does not materially affect the operation of" the. tool, thespring being a light one.

There are two parts of the tool'wliich make contact with an article during registration. These parts may be formed as a unit, if desired; however, it is preferred that the part which contacts the reference or index recess 25 in the bottle be made of tool steel to insure long wear. This part, which will be designated the tooth hereinafter and identified by the numeral 50, may comprise a pin or peg which is mounted in a bore traversing the tool from one side to the other above the pivot. A set screw 51, which threads into the upper end of the tool, is provided to lock the tooth in place in the bore. The other part of the tool which makes contact is the upper end thereof at the side adjacent the bottle. This part will be designated the nose hereinafter and identified by the numeral 52. The inner face 53 of the tool below the nose preferably is slightly concave in the area surrounding the tooth 50. Preferably, the exposed end of the tooth is configurated to conform generally to the shape of the recesses in the articles being operated upon.

Attention is now directed to Figures 4 and which show the tool in position and intercept the recess of a bottle. For purpose of illustration, the bottle is assumed to be rotated in. a counterclockwise direction. The tooth rides on. the. periphery of the bottle. with. leg.,4.4. awayfrom stop 48. Thus,. the tooth. is. held in contact, with, the bottle by spring 43, which,.should besufficiently strongto insure that the tooth. promptly enters therecesswhen. the ware has beenrotated to thatpositiont. It will be: seen that .the tooth .will' ride. the bottles-urface, regardless .ofsurface irregulariies, fiat. areas. or other deformities in the bottle, and that. the tool. will enter. the recess when. itv is presented thereto, whether the recess is at a high place or. at a low place on. an. out-.of-round. bottle. The: tool mount. may, therefore, be said to: permit. the tool. to float in order. that it may accommodate: itself to. the-contour. of. the article.

Figure; 6 shows the. tool. in bottle. registering. position. The. tooth 50 is engaged" in the recess 25 and the nose 52. engaged-againsttlie side of the bottle above: the recess; In; the vector. diagram. shown inthis: figure, the vector A represents a force and directionof force which is placed uponthe. tooth due. to. the: torque onthe bottle by the slippable clutch. after the bottle. has been stopped by the tool. The dot-dash line. B represents the moment arm of force. Aaboutzthe pivotal axisof the tool. The vector C represents the force of the nose 52-pressing against the bottle, and the dot-dash line D represents the moment, arm of force 0.. Thomagnitude of vector Cis, of. course,.less than the magnitude'of. vector A due to the difference in the lengths of the moment arms 13 and D respectively. However, the. magnitude of vector C is of little consequence.

The torque force A, directed against. the tooth, is directedssubstantiallytangentially with-respect to the bottle. Thus, there is little force upon. the tooth in a, direction radially outwardly from; thecenter of the bottle. On theother hand, the force C,.where the nose contacts the bottle, isin'the opposite direction or inwardly toward the center of: the bottle; Theeflect of forcevC, therefore, is to hold; the tooth in the recess regardlessof the magnitude of the torque force, and: once thetooth'enters the recess, the; tendency-thereafteris for. it to. press farther into it, at least to the point where the. nose; con tacts. the side of the bottle.

Referring to Figure. 8, itis preferred that the portion ofjthe nosepiece which actually contacts: the bottle: be substantially wider than the: tooth and that; the: tool be adjusted, when being used with a recess type of index, so that the nose: makescontact withthe side.- ofthe. bottie before=the; tooth strikessthe bottom of; therecess The inwardpressure of the'tooli on the side of the bottle, represented by vector C, is. thereforespread. over' a .wide area. A tool without nose 52 would, of course,.strike the bottom of the: recess, .quitevlikely with enough-force to: shatterf'ragilearticles. There is a considerableforce; oflarger-magnitude-than; that. represented by vector C; tending. 110.. move: the; tooth. inwardly when contact.- is made between it and the recess, inasmuch as the tooth is between arrow C and the pivotal axis of the tool and the moment arm ratio thereby changed. This force is effective to hold the tooth in place, but it is not brought to bear on the bottom of the recess, the force being absorbed over the Wider area of the article where it is contacted by nose 52.

Thus, regardless of the magnitude of the force against tooth 50 as a result of the torque on the bottle from the sliding clutch, the relative positions of the tooth, nosepiece and bottle are maintained until the registration drive is disconnected by shifting the clutch to decommission the drive from shaft 13 and engage drum 18. With the screen stationary, the bottle will remain as positioned by the registration tool after the tooth is withdrawn from the index and the tool assembly moved toward the position shown in dot-dash lines in Figure 1.

In setting up and adjusting the tool for operation with recessed index means care should be exercised to insure that as the tool is swinging into registration position,

stop finger 48 is positioned to permit the nose of the tool to contact the bottle or article to be decorated before the tooth makes contact with it. Recessed reference or index means such as recess 25 has several advantages over an embossed type such as the lug shown in Figure 7 at 54. A projection is apt to be broken off during bottle handling and more apt to be chipped by the registration tool, particularly where such tool is rigidly mounted, as has been done in the past. However, the present tool may be employed with either type. It will be noted from Figure 7 that the leading edge of nose 52 is rounded so that it may, if necessary, be cammed outwardly by lug 54- when the lug is moving toward registration position against tooth 59. The dot-dash lines of Figure 7 indicated at 55 represent the lifted position of the tool. The nose, of course, immediately recontacts the side of the bottle, due to the bias of spring 43, so that the instant the lug passes under nose 52 it is intercepted by the tooth. Slight adjustment of the position of the tool relative to the article in the chuck is required in order to change the tool from recess interception to lug interception. The main difference of the two types of operation is that when the tool is being used with a lug index means either the nose or the tooth may ride on the bottle, following its contours, Whereas, when used with a recess index means the tooth rides the bottle. In either case, the bottle is stopped precisely and held positively by the tooth.

The registration tool disclosed herein may be substituted for the tool utilized in the pre-registration mechanism of the copending application. In the machine disclosed there, pre-registration is employed as a production expedient. The machine is designed for an article-asecond rate of discharge, which rate does not provide time enough at a decorating station to permit the bottle receiving chuck to be revolved through the complete revolution required to insure that the recess or lug is brought into contact with the registration tool. In the operation of the machine of the copending application, the bottle is revolved in clockwise direction for pre-registration and then in the opposite direction for final registration. For example, pre-registration disposes the index, a lug in the instance shown, at the 11 oclock position. The bottle is then transported to the final registration station in this position. Final registration movement is counterclockwise from the 11 oclock position back to the 10 oclock position. For pre-registration purposes therefore, the position of the tool would have to be changed from that shown to one in which the nosepiece is below the tooth due to the difference in the directions of rotation of the bottle.

The registration assembly disclosed may also be installed in a machine of the type disclosed in U. 5. Patent No. 2,556,657 and two or more of the patented machines set up adjacent one another for semi-automatic multiple color work in which the articles being decorated are transferred from one machine to the other by hand.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. In a stencil decorating machine adapted to apply color to a cylindrical portion of a frangible article, said machine having means to rotate said article about the longitudinal axis of said cylindrical portion, said article having an index recess in the cylindrical portion thereof, registration means to stop the rotation of said article with said recess at a predetermined position, said registration means comprising a tool mounted for pivotal movement about an axis parallel to said longitudinal axis, said tool disposed at a side of said article and extending from its pivot along side of said article in the direction counter to the direction of the rotation of said article, the extended end of said tool having a convexly curved surface thereon to constitute a rounded nose which is substantially wide widthwise of the tool, a tooth having a bluntly pointed end extending from the side of the tool adjacent to said article, said tooth being spaced from the nose in the direction of rotation of the article and being fixed in relation to the nose, means urging said tool toward the side of the article whereby the tooth may ride upon the surface of the article and engage into said index recess when said index recess is presented thereto, and said nose being related to the tooth such that the curved surface thereon engages the side of said article after the tooth engages into said recess but before the tooth strikes the bottom of said recess, whereby a broad line of contact between the nose and the article prevents the tooth from forcibly striking the bottom of the recess in said article.

2. A registration tool as set forth in claim 1 in which the pivot upon which the tool is mounted is adjustable toward and away from said longitudinal axis, whereby the positions of the tooth and the nose may be adjusted relative to said longitudinal axis to accommodate articles having cylindrical portions of various diameters.

3. A registration tool as set forth in claim 2 in which means are provided to adjust the registration tool into a position in which both the tooth and nose portion of the tool may ride upon the surface of a cylindrical object having a protruding index lug thereon, whereby the lug on the rotating articles first engages the nose of the tool and moves thereunder to be caught by the tooth.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 751,783 Collin Feb. 9, 1904 1,990,498 Nordquist Feb. 12, 1935 2,157,638 Soubier May 9, 1939 2,365,961 Jackson et al Dec. 26, 1944 2,635,532 Stewart Apr. 21, 1953 

